Where’s the pizza, Little Ceasar?

Amongst all the college football bowl games going on this month, one in particular is standing out in my thoughts. This game, the Little Ceasar Pizza Bowl, took place last week in Detroit with a battle between Marshall and Ohio.

Little Caesars, who took over title sponsorship for the first time this year, was hailed in the Detroit local press as a savior for the city, and a good sign that Detroit is still a viable option for major sporting events amidst economic crisis. While this positive press and media coverage is a good thing for Little Caesar, perhaps there was another area of their sponsorship that the QSR chain could have focused on. I am referring to the fact that no Little Caesars pizzas were available inside the stadium. On top of this, one of their competitors, Hungry Howie’s, was present and for sale.

Right off the bat one would begin to question this issue. Why not provide / sell your product at the game? It offers a perfect opportunity for a fan that is already at “your game” to try the exact product that you are there to promote. Not only would you benefit from name recognition, but you would tap into other senses via the pizza.

On the other side of the spectrum is the reality that selling Little Caesars pizza would infringe on the agreement that Hungry Howie’s and Ford Field already have in place. I don’t imagine Howie being too excited about letting Caesar cut into his pizza sales. Did Little Caesars consider this before signing on as a title sponsor? Is there anything they can do next year to avoid this same awkward issue?

Selling Little Ceasar at the game could have proved beneficial to their cause, and the fact that their product wasn’t present defintely caused a few heads to turn. This seems to be an issue that may have not been avoidable, but certainly deserves to be questioned.